Safe and vault door



May 8, 1923.

May 8, 1923.

A. 1.. WEST.

SAFE AND VAULT DOOR Filed Nov. 3, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented ay 8, 1923,

ANDREW L. wnsr on KNOXVILLE, Tennessee. v

SAFE AND VAULT DOOR.

; Application .filed 1-Iovemberv To all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, AN REW LfVVns'r, a Citizen "of the United States, residing at Knoxville, in the county of Knox and State ofTennessee, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Safe and Vault Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompany-- ing drawing.

My improvement relates particularly to auxiliary mechanism applied to the ordinary locking mechanism of safe and vault doors.

" The object of the improvement is to provide means whereby the bolt frame of a safe or vault door is engaged and held immovably by auxiliary mechanism when the ordinary combination lock is disturbed by a burglar.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the inner face of a door embodying my improvementi "F 2 isanupri'ght section on the'l ne, 2-2,

of Fig. 1 looking toward the left;

of thedoori ,A isIthe Oiiter upright gbolt Fig. Elie an uprightsectionon the line,

of 'F gl k n toward he l Fig. 4 is an upright section on the line,

4 4fo'f Fig.3, lookin'gtoward the right.

Refering to said drawings, A is the body rail 'fi'xedion the door in the usual manner.

A is the inner upfight bolt railsimilarly afp'plied to the door. A 'is the upper door rail, A is the lower door rail. i B, B are horizontal bolts, of usual'form, fsli'dablein' the bolt rails, A and A in the and across the bolts, B, and secured rigidly 'esuarmannerm B is the usual bolt bar placedn'ear andparallel to the bolt rail, A

"to the latter, sotha't said bar and-said bolts form a bolt frame which is slidable horizonframe is moved tall ,th -euter'ends of the bolts engaging the door frame (not shown) when said to its limit toward the outer 5 bolt rail.

i The co'mbination lock, C,'1s located betwee'i' 'the boltali ne'arthebolt bar, B and isofanyordinary construction and has any erdinary-r rm"o means for engaging the bolt -ibar ei some part supported thereby to revent the'movementfofsaidi-bariaway from heibuter ibol't' rail'lwhenithe" bolt frame: has i-beei i moved; to "its limit toward :the "outer -.-bbl;i;;rail. I

. l ivslniitlie'gupper' is a :Lndteh'; Bi'iwhichlisradjacentg-the inner 55.;

face. of. .one'ofz-the bolts, B

lfeoe:ofitlrerfboltirail, whenit'he bolt frame the bolt rail, A

- the key member is drawn upward again a, 1921. Serial No. 512,475.

is atits' limit toward the bolt mu, A A key member,' D, is locatedbeside the inner bolt rail and has athroat. whichreceiyes the bolt, B, and above said bolt said key" member has a lip, D which i adapted to enter said notch, B Said throat is wide enough to permit up-and-down movement of the key member to bring said lip into or out of said notch. "Retainers, D ,applied to the inner face of the doorand the adjacent face of the bolt rail,' A limit the key member to up-and-down movement. @On the lower part of the key'member is an eye, D"-.,to

which attached the upper' endjof a contracting' coiled spring, D .Th: other end of.

said spring is attached to aneye, which is seated on the inner face of the door far enough belowthe key member to put said spring under sufficient strain tomake it tend to'drawthe key member downwardsouas to make'the lip, D enter the notch, when thelatter is moved beneath said up IA "cord 'orcha'in or wlre orsiinilar tenslon themben'E has'one end-applied to an eye, I), on the upper end of the keymember. Said tension member leads fr om said eye upward and along the inner face ofthe door above the combination lock, C, and then downward between the c'ombination'lock and Be'loW" the combination lock, the endof s aid'tension member is attached to a screw post, -E seated on the ii1- ne'rface'of the door. Between its ends, the tension member is led through guide merit,

bers, E "One of said guide [members is locked near each-uppercorner of the'com- 'bination lock, whereby th'e'pa'rt-of the ten sion member which is located above thecombin'ati'on'lock is unsupported. By forcibly 'moving said part of the tensionmember-lip- .war'd along the face ofthe door,' tlie part of the tension member which leads to the key member'is 'drawnupward, By this action, st the action of the c'oiled spring ,'D".f 'Si ch up ward movement is limitedby-engagemnt of lthe lo-wer' w-a-ll of-the throat of the key member against the lower face 'ofthe adjacent bolt. =In suchfbosition, theli'pgDF-gis :abovethexupper faceof bolt. {Hence the =,-b0l;ljf maytmoveyendwisexin either direction .ii'rithoiut being'hliiidered by thesliey member. A, vyoke .G, extends. across the"; combination dock andtoivardzlthegdooribelowsaid lookal- Imost tothe inner; lfaerofi deer. tlllreij 'ce said yoke extends-obliquely downward until its lower end bears against the inner face of the door. A post G seated on the door extends through th yoke and has its outer end threaded and on said end is a nut, P. To the upper end of the yoke, G, is secured one end of a brace, G by means of a hinge, G Said brace and said yoke are so proportioned as to adapt the free end of the brace to bear against the inner face of the door when said end is higher than said hinge and higher than the adjacentguides, E On the upper face of the brace and near its base, there is a shoulder or projection, G which normally engages the tension member. The length of the tension member is made such as to permit said member to be engaged by the brace when the key member has been raised to its upper limit.

The force with which the yoke bears toward the door may be varied by adjusting the nut, G on the post, G

As above indicated, when the parts are in this position, th bolt frame can be repeatedly moved horizontally in either direction without hindrance by the key member, such movements of the bolt frame being effected by turning the ordinary knob or handle (not shown) associated with the bolt bar.

When a burglar, attempting to open the door, displaces the combination look by hammer blows or by drilling, or by blasting,

such displacement forces the upper end of the yoke, G, away from the inner face of the door. whereby the brace, G is made to release the tension member, E. It is to be observed also that hammer blows on the outer face of the door adjacent the brace, G may cause the brace to release the tension member. Furthermore, any drilling or burning or explosion which will lead to the severing or detaching of the tension member will cause the release of the key member, D, and allow it to be moved into engagement with the adjacent bolt, B.

As soon as the tension member is thus freed, the contracting coil spring, D draws th key member, D, downward, whereby the lip, D is drawn into the notch, B in the adjacent bolt, B. Here it is to be remembered that when the door is locked, said notch is in alignment with said lip.

Attention is invited to the fact that the inner bolt rail, A of the door forms a substantial abutment-for the key member, 1),

the key member resting flatwise against the face of said rail and sliding up-and-down against said face. When the key member is engaged in the notch, B of the lock bolt, all strain put upon this bolt to move it out of the locked position will be put upon the bolt rail, A because the key member, as above stated, rests against said'rail. That is the major or dominating strain which is to be considered, and it will be seen that the bolt rail is amply strong to resist that strain. Tendency in the key member to move horizontally away from the bolt rail involves small strains, and said strains are easily resisted by the retainers, D which need not be of strong construction. Togive the key member this strong seating, no work need be done on the door excepting the making of. small holes for the small screws used for attaching the retainers. The yoke, G, is adj ustably secured by only the screw post, G seated on the inner face of the door.

It is to be understood that the guide members for the tension member may be of such number and may be located in such places as may be deemed expedient. It is also to be understood that the yoke may vary in form to meet varied conditions.

I claim as my invention,

1. In an apparatus of the nature de' scribed, the combination with a door and a combination lock and a locking bolt having a notch, of a key member movable transversely to the length of said bolt and adapted to engage in said notch, constantly acting means tending to. move said key member in the direction to make such engagement, a yoke and a brace yieldingly positioned adjacent the combination lock, and means extending from the brace to and into engagement with said key member for normally holding said member in position to avoid engagement with said bolt, said brace being adapted to be released by attempts to derange the locking mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination with a door and a combination lock and a locking bolt having a notch, of a key member movable transversely to the length of said bolt and adapted to engage in said notch, constantly acting means tending to move said key member in the direction to make such engagement, an adjustable yoke, and a brace yieldingly positioned, and means extending .from the brace to and into engagement with said key member for normally holding said member in position-to avoid engagement with said bolt, said brace being adapted to be released by attempts to derange the locking mechanism. substantially as described.

In an apparatus of the nature describ'erhthe combination with a door and a combination lock and a locking bolt having a notch, of guide members adjacent the combination lock, a key member movable transversely to the length of said bolt and. adapted to engage in said notch, constantly acting means tending to move said key member in the direction to make such engagement, a tension member extending from said key member away from'said notch in the direction opposed to said constantly-acting d 130 means and through said guide members, an

a displaceable member located adjacent the combination lock and engaging said tension member between two of said guide members and holding said tension member out of alignment with said guide members, whereby said key member is held out of engagement with said notch, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination with a door and a combination lock and a locking bolt having a notch, of guide members adjacent the combination lock, a key member movable transversely to the length of said bolt and adapted to engage in said notch, constantly acting means tending to move said key member in the direction to make such engagement, a tension member extending from said key member away from said notch in the direction opposed to said constantly acting means and through said guide members, and a displaceable member located adjacent the combination lock and having a shoulder engaging said tension member between two of said guide members and holding said tension member out of alignment with said guide members, whereby said key member versely to the length of said bolt and adapt ed to engage in said notch, constantly acting means tending to move said key member in the direction to make such engagement, a yoke extending across the combination lock and having one end resting on the inner face of the door,

nation lock, a brace engaged by the other end of said yoke, and means extending from the brace to and into engagement with said key member for normally holding said memher in position to avoid engagement with said bolt, said brace being adapted to be released by attempts to derange the locking mechanism, substantially as. described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name this 24thday of October,'in the year one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one.

ANDREW nwEsT.

adjustable means engaging said yoke between said end and the combi-v 

